COHRE reports stress right to return of exiled Bhutan (Right to Return)
Geneva, May 23: Releasing three new publications on exiled Bhutanese, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), international rights organization has stressed right to return to Bhutan or necessary compensation for their losses.
Issuing a press statement today, COHRE based in Geneva said that it sent its two fact finding missions to Nepal and the Indo-Bhutan border in 2008.
The publications focus on the application of international human rights standards – namely the United Nations Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons known as Pinheiro Principles – to the situation of the more than 100,000 displaced Lhotshampas, people of ethnic Nepali origin in Bhutan.
Jean du Plessis, COHRE Deputy Director, said: “Under international law, exiled Bhutanese have the right to return to their original homes and land. If returning home is factually impossible, or if people choose not to return home, they have the right to be compensated for their losses, or to receive alternative land and housing.”
COHRE claimed that the reports are timely, given that a process of third-country resettlement has started for many of the refugees.
The resettlement process does not affect the right to return, or to housing, land and property restitution said the statement quoting du Plessis as telling "Third-country resettlement is only one part of the durable solution for the Bhutanese refugees – the right to return and to restitution should not be forgotten".
"The right to return is not limited by time or location. Even if they agree to third-country resettlement, their right to return to their original land and home in Bhutan and to claim restitution or compensation cannot be taken away", added he.
COHRE also called on the Bhutanese government to give attention to the housing rights of those who have been displaced: “Bhutan is a member of the United Nations and a State party to important human rights treaties. If Bhutan considers itself a respectable member of the international community, it has a duty to acknowledge the right to return”, added du Plessis.
Kees Wouters, Legal Officer to the COHRE Asia and Pacific programme, who was part of COHRE’s missions to Nepal, told in the statement, the government of Bhutan cannot ignore the claims of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. Over 90% of the 4553 refugee families surveyed in the camps hold valid documentary evidence of land and property ownership in Bhutan.
The statement wrote even though return is not possible at present, COHRE and local partners are actively promoting the right to housing, land and property restitution for exiled Bhutanese.
Wouters said: “At this time, it is vital that we collect information and documentation that links the Bhutanese refugees to their lands and homes in Bhutan. It is also important to conduct research and awareness-raising with the refugees, to understand the underlying issues and challenges of how best to obtain restitution.”
COHRE has appealed the international community, and core-countries for third country resettlement to support efforts towards protecting the housing, land and property rights of exiled Bhutanese. Bhutan News Service